Major Bible Themes

By Lewis Sperry Chafer

Chapter 16

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT: HIS MINISTRY

The law dispensation continued to the very hour
of the death of Christ (Joh 1:17; Gal 3:14), and since the present
peculiar and varied ministries of the Spirit could not have begun
until the Pentecostal advent, there is imperative need that the
relationships belonging to the past age shall in no wise be made the
basis of doctrine which is applicable to this age. The experience of
the disciples and the relationships which obtained before the death
of Christ contribute little to the precise form of "present truth"
(2Pe 1:12). It is therefore obvious that no other believers of this
dispensation are called to the same progressive experience as that
of the disciples; but, on the contrary, the experience of all other
believers will, of necessity, be wholly within the limits of that
which characterizes the present age. The present ministries of the
Spirit, taken together, form a perfect system, or whole, which is
wonderfully adjusted to the peculiar facts of salvation by grace and
the believer's life under grace. The day of Pentecost with all its
provisions for this age has "fully come" (Act 2:1), and that day
marks the new grace-ministries of the Spirit. These are seven:

I. AS THE ONE WHO RESTRAINS THE WORLD

The fact and force of this ministry rests upon but one passage of
Scripture, in which the Spirit is said to be restraining the
lawlessness of the world until He (the Restrainer) be taken out of
the way (2Th 2:7). It is believed that the Spirit is the Restrainer
since the restraining work is evidently undertaken by one of the
Persons of the Godhead and the Spirit is the active power of God in
the world during this age. The context indicates that Satan's
supreme manifestations which are to be permitted in the Great
Tribulation are now restrained by the Spirit until the Spirit shall
have finished His work in the world and is taken out of the way.

II. AS THE ONE WHO REPROVES THE WORLD

Again the scope of an important ministry of the Spirit is limited
to the statement of one passage (Joh 16:7-11). This ministry
likewise is to the whole world. The reproving of the world is more
than a mere deepening of personal sorrow for sin; it is an
indivisible threefold enlightenment of the Satan-blinded mind (2Co
4:3-4) in respect to sin, righteousness, and judgment. The sin is
that of unbelief in the Saviour, the righteousness is that
righteousness which is from God and is upon all who believe (Rom
1:16-17; Rom 3:22; Rom 4:5), the judgment is that finished work of
Christ which is past, whereby He suffered in our place. By His
reproving ministry, the Spirit causes the unsaved individual who is
blinded by Satan to comprehend these three vital facts in the Gospel
relative to the divine provisions for the lost.

III. AS THE ONE WHO REGENERATES

By the regenerating power of the Spirit, the one who exercises
saving faith in Christ passes immediately from spiritual death to
spiritual life, is made a partaker of the divine nature, Christ is
begotten in him the hope of glory, God legitimately becomes his
Father, and he becomes the legitimate child of God, an heir of God,
and a joint-heir with Christ.

IV. AS THE ONE WHO INDWELLS

This ministry of the Spirit, which was the theme of the last
chapter, is one of the most vital facts concerning the Christian
(Joh 7:37-39; Rom 5:5; Rom 8:9; 1Co 2:12; 1Co 6:17; Gal 4:6).

V. AS THE ONE WHO BAPTIZES

Not only is the divine life in the believer through the
indwelling Spirit, but the believer is so vitally joined to the Lord
by the baptism with the Spirit (1Co 12:13; 1Co 6:17; Gal 3:27) that
he is said to be "in Christ." To be in Christ is to have been taken
out of the old creation in Adam and placed eternally in the new
Creation in Christ (2Co 5:17). Christ becomes the new Federal Head
and all that Christ is or has done is imputed to the believer. As a
branch is grafted into the vine, or a member might be joined to a
body, so the believer is vitally joined to Christ by the baptism
with the Spirit. According to Scripture usage, that which has power
to receive into itself, to impart its own qualities, or to exercise
a controlling influence, has power to baptize, and such baptism is
never a "dipping into," but rather secures an abiding position and
union. The believer is brought eternally under the limitless
influence of Christ by the baptism with the Spirit, and the baptism
with the Spirit being a part of salvation is common to all
believers. The baptism with the Spirit is the theme of the following
chapter.

VI. AS THE ONE WHO SEALS

Every child of God has been sealed by the Spirit unto the day of
redemption (2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13; Eph 4:30). The Spirit Himself is the
Seal and His presence speaks of divine ownership and of eternal
security.

It may be concluded that the Spirit's ministries in regenerating,
indwelling, baptizing, and sealing are Śwrought for the Christian
when he believes, and form the very structure of his salvation, and
since these blessings are never abrogated they are never wrought a
second time.

VII. AS THE ONE WHO FILLS

The filling with the Spirit is unto Christian experience, power,
and service. In contrast to the once-for-all regenerating,
indwelling, baptizing, and sealing, there are many fillings (Act
2:4; Act 4:8, Act 4:31; Act 6:3, Act 6:5; Act 7:55; Act 11:24; Act
13:9). According to the one great command (Eph 5:18), the believer
is to be "getting filled" continuously. To be filled with the Spirit
is to have the Spirit fulfilling in the heart and life all that He
came into that life to do. It is not to acquire more of the Spirit,
but, rather, that the Spirit acquires more of the believer. To be
filled with the Spirit is to be a normal, if not a usual, Christian.
The Spirit came to do all that He does in filling, hence He needs
not to be implored; He is imploring the unadjusted believer to the
end that every hindrance may be removed.

Spirituality does not consist in negatives only. We are not
spiritual because we do not do worldly things. Spirituality is a
vital output or accomplishment in and through the believer from the
indwelling Spirit.

In order to be filled with the Spirit, it is required that all
sin shall be confessed (1Jo 1:9; Eph 4:30); the whole life shall be
surrendered to him (Rom 6:13; Rom 12:1; 1Th 5:19); and that there
shall be moment-by-moment reliance upon the Spirit (Gal 5:16).

QUESTIONS

1. Is the experience of the disciples who lived in two
dispensations and through the transition from one to the other a
safe guide for the Christian now?

2. Name the seven present ministries of the Spirit.

3. Who is the Restrainer and what is His undertaking as such
according to 2Th 2:7?

4. Describe the reproving work of the Spirit.

5. What is the result of regeneration by the Spirit?

6. a. In whom, according to the Scriptures, does the Spirit
dwell?

b. By what other term is this ministry
indicated? (see preceding chapter)

7. a. Into what is the believer baptized by the Spirit?

b. What New Testament figures
illustrate this vital union to Christ?

c. Is the Spirit's baptism unto an
abiding result?

d. Who is baptized with the Spirit?

8. What does the sealing of the Spirit indicate?

9. a. What is the filling with the Spirit?

b. In what particulars is this ministry
different than His regenerating, His indwelling, His baptizing,
and His sealing?

c. What is the precise command of Eph
5:18?

10. What are the seven manifestations of the Spirit which
together form the Spirit-filled life?

11. Does spirituality consist only in the things a Christian
does not do?